A Butcher's Secret
by alphamikefoxtrot15
Summary: The team think they're just dealing with a client's rival butcher, but the mysterious disappearances of people in the town begin to suggest otherwise.
1. Chapter 1, Finding The A-Team

**A/N: I was going to wait a little while to start writing this but then I changed my mind, so here's the first chapter to my new multi-chapter A-Team fic! Please read and review. (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the A-Team.**

Chapter 1: Finding The A-Team.

The crashing sound of the metal trays hitting the ground filled the once quiet back room of Sam Anderson's butchery. It was the third time that week that scumbags had broken in to destroy the place. Josh Parsons, another local butcher, was determined to make sure that his place was the only local butchery open for business and he was prepared to get what he wanted in any way he could.

Four goons stood by the side of Josh, baseball bats and crowbars in hand.

"Now I don't have to tell you again, do I?" Josh cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side with a sadistic smirk, "if you don't close down this place, we'll have to close down you."

"You won't get what you want, Josh, I promise you that." It was brave of Sam to try and stand up to the man who was threatening him, but when he found himself bent over the wooden chopping block with his arm twisted behind his back, he was beginning to wish that he hadn't said anything at all.

"I _will _get exactly what I want, Anderson, or you'll lose more than your shop." Josh picked off one of the pictures of Sam's daughter from the pin board and grinned, "Such a precious little girl you got here, Sammy. It would be a shame if she were to go missing like a lot of other children in this city."

"Touch her and I'll make you wish you weren't born," Sam threatened, but Josh laughed it off and tipped one of the metal tables over, a crashing sound rattling everyone's ears.

"You've got one more week to shut this place down, Anderson, or we'll do it the hard way."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sam Anderson collapsed on the barstool, completely exhausted from his day. He'd been to see a Chinese launder, a newspaper man and _now _he was told to go to a bar to find the A-Team. If somebody told him to go somewhere else he was calling it a day. It was clear to him that if the team didn't want to be found then they wouldn't. He just wanted it to be all over – not to mention that he was extremely jetlagged from his flight to LA.

"Excuse me?" Sam said to the bartender who walked over to him, "I'd like a glass of water please."

"Certainly." The tender disappeared for a moment before coming back with the water. Sam thanked him and looked around the room before the tender started talking again, "you're not from 'round here, are you?"

"Can you tell?" Sam asked with a small smile, "England… I'm definitely a long way from home."

"Are you here on business or pleasure?"

"Business, unfortunately. I'm meeting some people." He checked his watch, "or I should be. They're late. I don't suppose they've left a message for Sam Anderson at all?"

The tender went to ask around but shook his head. Sam sighed.

"Looks like this just isn't my week. Thank you, anyway." He got up to leave but the tender put his hand on his arm and looked right at him.

"I think there might be some people waiting around the back for you."

Sam frowned, confused slightly, but he followed the bar tender around to the back.

"You just found the A-Team, Mr. Anderson." The tender said with a smile and Sam's frown deepened for a moment before he broke out into a smile. Maybe his luck was changing after all.

"I'm Hannibal Smith," the man said, removing his wig to reveal his white hair. Three other men walked through a door smiling, as Hannibal introduced them as Face, Murdock and B.A. Then it was time to get down to business.

"According to Mr. Lee," Hannibal started, "your butchery has been sabotaged repeatedly by a man called Josh Parsons?"

"Yes," Sam nodded, "he's broke in at night time and stolen my meat, or opened vac-packed items and left them out so they're covered with flies in the morning – the blood from the meat attracts them and it's a pain to keep them away during the day when we're around so at night time… He's smashed up expensive equipment because his own isn't any good. He's rude his customers and scares them into coming back – _and _his meat isn't even that nice. It's all close to being spoiled; definitely not fresh at all. He's told me to close down three times already, even offered to buy me out but my business took a long time to build up and I've got a family to provide for: a wife and two little kids."

"And you want us to teach this guy a few manners?" Hannibal suggested with a smile on his face. Sam nodded, silently.

"I don't know about this Hannibal – I don't have anything in my wardrobe that screams 'butcher'," Face said with an unhappy expression.

"That's 'kay, Face you can borrow somethin' of mine," Murdock grinned, nudging the other man with his elbow. Face didn't look impressed with that either and leaned against the wall with a sour expression.

"How are you going to pay for us, Mr. Anderson? We're very expensive, especially overseas." Hannibal crossed his arms and chewed on the end of his cigar. Sam smiled.

"I'll sign the shop over to you and you can take half of the profits when you've got Josh off my back."

"Running a butchery? Hannibal we've never done anything like that before. What do we know about something like that?" Face said, making the fact he didn't think it was a good idea very obvious. B.A. nodded in agreement. Going over to England to help would mean flying and that was definitely a no-go on his list of things he wanted to do that year.

"Come on guys, it'll be fun. Besides, when was the last time we went to England?" Hannibal said, the twinkle in his eye already suggesting that he was on the Jazz and a plan was forming in his head. Face rolled his eyes, knowing that whatever he protested, or whatever point he brought up would be useless now. B.A. knew that sooner or later, whether he liked it or not, he was going to wake up with a throbbing head in the middle of England. Murdock grinned because he was going to be able to fly and be in the air and be as far away from the VA as possible.

Hannibal looked at his men and took in their expressions before turning to Sam and nodding with a smile.

"Alright, you've got yourself a deal. Sam Anderson, you just hired The A-Team."


	2. Chapter 2, Welcome to England

Chapter 2: Welcome to England.

As every flight ended with the team, B.A. woke up shouting and screaming about how he had been forced onto a plane. The boys were far too used to the whole commotion now to be remotely bothered by it, so Hannibal just chuckled and lit a cigar, Face tried to hide behind the Colonel and Murdock took the shouting on the chin, with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. They took a cab to Sam's butchery and made it just on time, strolling down the street and checking out the local area.

"Hey, Hannibal, there sure seems to be a lot of 'MISSING' posters around." Face noted, stepping closer to a street lamp to check out one of the posters before reading aloud, "Maisie Simpson, age 12, went missing on 22nd July down this street."

"Face we haven't got time to talk about anything other than what we're here for." Hannibal rolled his eyes, having not heard what Face was talking about. Nottingham may not have been LA, but it was still loud and very busy. The conman opened his mouth to speak again but sighed and shook his head, following the other three members of the team into the shop.

The first thing Face was hit with was the overwhelming smell of raw meat and his hand went to his stomach, holding his breath for a moment to try and hold down his breakfast.

"You made it!" Sam smiled broadly, disappearing out of the back through the door before reappearing through another door on the other side of the counter, grabbing Hannibal's hand and shaking it with enthusiasm.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am that you guys are here. Come round the back and we can talk properly about all of this."

He disappeared through the door again and the boys followed, entering the back store room and fridge area. Face clung to his trousers, lifting them up a little so they didn't touch the floor. He nervously eyed the cardboard boxes in the corner, animal blood still inside them. The others didn't seem bothered about any of that and it made him even more uneasy.

"Hey, Will, when you've finished serving, come round the back too," Sam said to his assistant before turning his attention to the boys.

"Listen, thanks again for coming all this way to help me out, guys."

Hannibal nodded, "it's our pleasure, Sam."

Face wrinkled his nose and spoke flatly, "yeah… our pleasure…"

"Have you had any trouble off Josh since you contacted us?"

"Yeah he was in here last night threatening me again. I don't know how much longer I can take keeping him away from my family and from shutting me down for good." Sam sounded nervous but Hannibal nodded again and chewed on the end of his unlit cigar. They were going to take care of this Josh character once and for all.

"I noticed some posters on the street… The 'MISSING' posters." Face started, and Sam slipped his hands into his pockets, nodding solemnly.

"Yeah some kids have been disappearing lately without a trace. We don't know who last saw them, what they were doing… We don't know anything. They just vanished from thin air. And it's not just the kids; a lot of people have been going. My old assistant, before Will came along, disappearing about a year ago and hasn't been seen since. He just didn't show up for work one day and I never heard anything from him. His mum said that he was going for a drink and that was the last she heard from him too."

"I don't like it, Hannibal. Kids goin' missin' isn't good." B.A. folded his arms across his chest as Murdock rocked back and forth on his feet, hands in pockets.

The room fell silent for a long moment and Will entered the room, wiping his hands with a wet rag which he placed on the metal shelf next to him.

"So you're the guys that are gonna help get rid of Josh and his scumbags?" He said with a smile, and Hannibal nodded. He was about to speak when there was a crashing sound from behind them and in walked Josh, armed with a baseball bat, three men with guns behind him.

"Who's the guys that are gonna get rid of Josh and his pals, huh?" Josh cocked a brow and Sam stepped back, the boys taking the front. They weren't intimidated in the slightest.

"Aw look at you. I eat guys like you for breakfast," Murdock cooed with a smile before his face fell serious.

"You think you're gonna take care of us when you're just four guys?" Josh snorted and the men behind him laughed. He tapped the bat in his palm a couple of times before taking a swing at Hannibal, who simply ducked out of the way and grabbed Josh's arm, twisting it behind his back and forcing him up against the wall.

"Yeah I think that's a pretty good idea."

The three other men and the rest of the team fought it out whilst Hannibal kept Josh firmly up against the wall. Effortlessly, the team disarmed the other men, giving them the same fate as their leader.

"Now you listen to me, you slimeball, if you don't get off this property in five seconds, I'm gonna do more than push you against a wall and hurt your arm a bit. You understand?" Hannibal threatened, but Josh just laughed and struggled to get out to no avail. Hannibal pushed his twisted arm further up his back which made him yelp and nod.

"Alright! Alright!"

The Colonel hesitated for a moment before letting him go and pulling out his gun, firing at the wall he'd just had Josh pressed against.

"You got five seconds, pal."

Murdock, Face and B.A. let the others go and the four of them ran out of the back.

"Well we've had nicer welcomes," Face grinned, beginning to think that this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"That was easier than I thought," Sam chuckled, looking pleased already.

"That was just the start of it. It'll get worse believe me. We just let them know we were in town… Now they'll make their proper move and we need to make sure we're ready for them."

"What about the missin' people, Hannibal?" B.A. asked, his concern for the children becoming evident. Hannibal stopped for a moment and thought about it – could they really handle two cases at once? He laughed and shook his head, not believing that he'd just asked himself that. Of course they could – they were the A-Team after all.

The boys recognised the twinkle in Hannibal's eye and knew that he was up to something.

"Of course we can. C'mon guys, I've got a plan."

"Thanks,B.A.," Face sighed, "Hannibal's really on the Jazz now."


	3. Chapter 3, Clues

**A/N: Sorry this has taken so long to get out! Finally getting my muse back so things should be moving a lot faster. Reviews are, as always, welcomed. :)**

Chapter 3: Clues

"I don't understand why you've been sent out here, we've already spoken to the police about Beth." The woman walked back into the living room from the kitchen, carrying two mugs of coffee and handed them to Murdock and Face.

"Well we're just going over the cases to see if you can remember anything else from that day, Mrs. Terry," Face replied in his British accent, messing with his tie the way he did when he got a little nervous. Murdock remained silent, sitting back on the sofa. He watched Mrs. Terry silently.

"Beth went out with her friends, the way she always did; they had their bikes and I told her to be back before it got dark because that's the rule in our house. When she didn't come home… Well, she was going through a rebellious stage so I thought that's what it was but when I rang her friends' parents and they said that she wasn't with them…" She went silent, looking down at her feet, tears welling in her eyes as she remembered finding out that her only daughter had disappeared, "you can't possibly imagine what it's like…"

The boys exchanged glances uncomfortably before Face spoke again.

"Do you know where she was playing when she disappeared? Or do you know what her friends said?"

"They said that one minute she was there and when they turned around she had gone… Just like the other children that have gone missing. We don't let them out into the city on their own now. Of course, no city is safe but the amount of children going…"

"It's suspicious," Face nodded, looking at Murdock.

"Mrs. Terry do you know where they were playing when she disappeared?" The pilot asked, putting his coffee cup on the table and folding his arms across his chest. The woman wiped her eyes and sniffed with a shrug.

"The kids just said in the city… They didn't say where specifically."

"Do you think we could ask any of the children? Your son was with the group when she disappeared is that correct?" Face said, but she just shook her head furiously.

"He doesn't want to talk about it, it upsets him too much. I'm not surprised, they're very close…"

"That's great, thank you for your time Mrs. Terry, we know it must be very difficult for you."

The boys stood up, thanked her again before leaving. Once outside, Face turned to Murdock and raised an eyebrow. Murdock spoke first.

"Face you get the feelin' that this butcher and these missin' people are connected?"

"Yeah I'd thought about it but there's no proof. We don't know whether everyone that's missing was around the same area when they disappeared, and they would have been spotted being kidnapped. I mean, that butchery is right in the middle of the city and people are always around there. If anyone was taken they would have been seen." But Face knew what Murdock meant and he had a sneaky feeling that he was right. They just didn't have the proof.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"How did you get on, Lieutenant?" Hannibal asked once the boys were back at Sam's place? They stood in the back room, away from prying ears of any of Josh's men disguised as ordinary customers; you could never be too careful.

"Mrs Terry's story checks out the same as the others; the kids go out with their friends in the city, one minute they're there and the next they're gone. The kids don't say where they were hanging out and nobody seems to want to ask them either," Face explained, leaning against the metal table, hands in his pockets.

"We thought that Josh and the disappearin' kids could be connected somehow."

Hannibal stopped chewing on the end of his cigar for a moment and stared at Murdock. That was a pretty big accusation. He said so, and then continued,

"We know that Josh is a slimeball for what he's doing to Sam but suggesting that he kidnapped people too… We don't have enough evidence to go on that."

"What if we get the evidence tonight when we look around?" Murdock asked, and the Colonel shrugged.

"I trust your instinct guys and if you find anything great, but don't put yourself in danger. If you're right and he is taking people, then you gotta be careful. Remember we're here to do what our client hired us to do."

Sam entered the back room and smiled at the four men. Josh hadn't been around all day to terrify customers and he took it as a good sign. Already his business was getting back up onto his feet and he thanked Hannibal for his help. The Colonel smiled and swiftly put his half smoked cigar back into his pocket.

"The fight isn't over yet, Sam," he said.

"He'll still be around and he'll hit harder than before," Face added.

"But you'll be able to stop him right? I mean, you _are _the A-Team, you're supposed to be the best."

"We are the best," Murdock grinned, "don't worry we'll stop him."

"It's gonna get real dangerous, though. You should take your family and get outta town for a few days until this is over," B.A. suggested, Hannibal nodding in agreement.

"Otherwise he'll target your family and it'll be ten times worse."

Sam bit his lip in thought for a moment before speaking, "what about Will?"

"Tell him the same thing," Hannibal said, "it's gonna get heavy but Josh'll be out of business and in jail in a few days."

The team watched as Sam left without another word. It was always much safer to get the clients out of town before any funny business happened. They could almost always guarantee getting the job done one way or another and their reputation backed that up, but they couldn't guarantee the safety of lives, especially when dealing with men like Josh. It was even worse if what Face and Murdock suspected was true, but there was only one way they were going to find out for sure and that was investigating the shop out of hours.


End file.
